Punjab Kings chased down the highest score in T20s, overhauling Kolkata Knight Riders’ 261-6 with eight balls to spare on Friday (April 26).

KKR set Punjab Kings a daunting 262 for their third win of the 2024 Indian Premier League, a target that had never been chased down in T20s before. What followed was complete mayhem as the Sam Curran-led PBKS side gunned down the total comfortably with eight wickets to spare.

Openers Prabhsimran Singh and Jonny Bairstow led the carnage, racing away to 93 by the end of the powerplay, with the former reaching his fifty in 18 balls. Bairstow, who replaced Liam Livingstone in the XI, was 12 in 10 at one stage, before hitting 24 runs in the sixth over, bowled by KKR’s Impact Player Anukul Roy.

The England batter went into a different gear thereafter despite the dismissal of Prabhsimran, scoring his fifty in just 24 balls. Bairstow combined with Rilee Rossouw to make 85 runs in 39 deliveries, with the latter contributing 26 in 16. Sunil Narine sent back Rossouw as PBKS still needed 84 in 7.3 overs but a blistering knock by Shashank Singh all but sealed the game for them.

He struck eight sixes during his 28-ball 68, taking over the attention from Bairstow, who went on to make his fourth T20 hundred in just 45 balls. Punjab, who needed 52 off 23 at one stage, only required 15 deliveries to knock off the remaining runs, registering a memorable win.

It was the first time in the history of T20 cricket that a team successfully chased down a total in excess of 260. The previous record belonged to South Africa after they chased down West Indies’ target of 259 at Centurion last year.

For KKR, Narine remained the biggest positive with the ball yet again. After making 71 with the bat, he kept the scoring rate quiet with the ball, conceding only 24 in his four overs. No other bowler from the side has an economy rate below 13.50.

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